The NC District Court hears civil cases involving less than $25,000 and criminal misdemeanors. District Court also oversees juvenile court and the magistrates, which handle things like small claims and evictions. Judges are elected for 4 year terms. There are 282 judges in 41 districts across the state, most of them covering either one or two counties. Legislation in 2023 numerically realigned/renumbered the District Court and other court districts to align with the Prosecutorial districts.
Position/philosophy statement
Judges should be experienced in the law, dedicated to the service of the people, and fair to those that come before them.
Current Occupation
District Court Judge — Seat 2 (Incumbent)
I am the only candidate who has judicial experience. I am the incumbent in the seat and as such since I was originally elected in 2022, I have been responsible for hundreds of judgments as well as being an assigned juvenile court judge and family court judge.
I’m the most educated candidate in my race, holding a Masters of Law, a degree beyond my law degree. I have also been awarded a Judicial Juvenile Certification by the NC Administrative Office of the Courts based on presiding over hundreds of cases and taking hours of judicial education classes, specific to juvenile work.
I am the judicial designee on the Moore County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council. I coach the only state competition high school Mock Trial teams in Moore County.
As a judge, my party affiliation may help inform voters as to my overall judicial philosophy but it does not control my work. Judges are to be swayed only by the law itself and I firmly believe in applying that in court. I believe that judges should adhere to the laws as they are written, and also to both the state and federal constitutions as those are written. It is my role as a judge to ensure laws are constitutionally applied, and then apply them without favor to any person, party, or group.
I am an assigned family court judge and an assigned juvenile court judge. As such, I’m responsible for my own caseload in family court, juvenile delinquency, and in cases involving the Department of Social Services. As such, I have been personally responsible for ensuring those caseloads remained within time guidelines and have worked to reduce (and almost completely eliminate) the backlog in each assigned category.
In addition, I have been invited to teach other judges about best practices in those courtrooms, and I have been invited to be the judicial reviewer for the UNC School of Government on scholarly articles regarding juvenile law.
I am also the judicial designee on the Moore County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council.
I am the only judge in our district to have a Masters of Law (LL.M) which is a degree beyond a law degree (J.D.). In addition, by December 2026, I will be the only judge in our district to have received all three available judicial specialization certificates in Juvenile Law, Advanced Juvenile Delinquency, and Advanced Child Welfare through a program with the UNC School of Government that allows judges to receive specializations in these areas. Bringing excellence to each case through education is important to me in serving our district.
